Catholic Exchange Forums Tag: bible

Catholic Exchange Forums Tag: bible http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ Catholic Exchange Forums Tag: bible en Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:09:50 +0000 bhokuto on "Living one's faith" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/851#post-13659 Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:15:34 +0000 bhokuto 13659@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ When you go home from your event, tell the Lord then. He looks at your heart. In fact before you run off to work and other days like Saturday, say the Brother Sun, Sister Moon thanksgiving and blessing. St. Frances. Jesus knew before hand He was going to suffer and die so He had Holy Communion with is apostles prior. Peace wljewell on "Living one's faith" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/851#post-13579 Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:05:54 +0000 wljewell 13579@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ Zac, et al - We sat in front because of that tendency in any weak soul - okay, MY weak soul - to look toward any other weak soul at certain sins refered to in the homily - "I hope you're hearing THAT one, So-n-so!" The only Person I faced was God Himself, so near to His throne tabernacle, His 'alter Christus' priest and His altar of sacrifice. In fact, we loved that pew right in between the tabernacle altar (the 'throne' had its own altar in that local palace of His) and the main altar. Right in center-front of us was the pulpit. The whole Mass and homily both lifted and indicted only me, in my line-of-sight and in my spirit. Besides, I am princeling-son of our God - why can I not sit where my King and Father can see me, smile upon me, frown at me? Now, when I get out of being a shut-in and get to Mass (usually when I want to get to regular Confession), I sit in front to aid the Communion minister to bring The Eucharist to my pew. I don't stand very well, AND I can stay on my knees in the pew and receive the Lord in my mouth rather than my hand. I have no problem making our Sign of the Cross in public. Then again, I am a very imposing body of a person, and carry a walking stick (as a veritable cane) that children love - it has a carved bear's head on top - one of my nicknames was 'the Bear'. Adults might realize such a shoulder-high stick can be used like the staff of a hand-to-hand fighter. The Sign as does the bear's ("Teddy to the litle ones) marks my faith and pacific nature to the kids, who are 'uncluttered' observers - only an alleged adult could complain, but likely won't with a man who looks like he just may take lessons from the fighting arm of the Knights Templar. :) laurak on "Living one's faith" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/851#post-13537 Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:21:48 +0000 laurak 13537@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ Hello Fishman, About praying in public... especially at a business lunch. I bow my head for a moment in silent prayer. That moment of silence sometimes reminds others to do the same. People often look relieved, that others pray before meals too. It can help form a connection with other christian business associates, who sometimes turn out to be catholic as well. My family always makes the sign of the cross in restaurants and we pray before the meal. It is an acknowlegement of God's blessings, in a secular world. Our faith is not a private matter than shouldn't be discussed in public. Prayer before a meal in a restaurant gives public testimony to our belief in God. It sets an example for others, to not be ashamed of their faith, publicly either. After all, about 85% of Americans believe in God. We've let the other 15% try to take God out of the public arena and we really shouldn't let them suceed. Laura K. Zachaeus on "Living one's faith" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/851#post-13535 Sun, 27 Jul 2008 14:14:24 +0000 Zachaeus 13535@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ Noel, the middle of the Church is for cowards (no disrespect intended). Middle of the churchers have no passion, they usually are your critizers: and whiners: too much clapping, not enough clapping, too boring, not traditional enough, too touchy-feely, no community, music is too fast, too slow, to old, too knew yada...yada..yada. As Chair of our Parish Pastoral council I hear it all. Makes me really wonder if there is salvation anywhere in the Catholic Church. noelfitz on "Living one's faith" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/851#post-13534 Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:14:15 +0000 noelfitz 13534@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ Z I would suggest sit in the middle of the church. God bless, Noelfitz. ______________________________________________________________ IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS, IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS, IN OMNIBUS CARITAS. ______________________________________________________________ Zachaeus on "Living one's faith" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/851#post-13533 Sun, 27 Jul 2008 09:50:27 +0000 Zachaeus 13533@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ It's like taking a pew at Mass. Do I sit up front where my children and grandchildren can feel more apart of what is going on by the watching liturgical actions but run the risk of others saying that I am taking a position of importance and false piety? Or do I sit at the very back of the Church so that others will think I am falsely pious and am trying to be like the sinful tax collector?. Personally, I think Lpioch is more correct and agree that over thinking our actions can mess us up. Me, I do what I want, say want I need to say, do want needs to be done and try not to give a darn worrying about what others think. If I did I would have become an atheist or left the big “C” catholic Church many years ago. Hence my cyber persona "Zaccheaus" (less the second c of course!). In my “real time” life I am far too much like the majority of you, uhmm…that would be orthodox conservative, but that old man only exists outside of cyber time! fishman on "Living one's faith" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/851#post-13530 Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:57:13 +0000 fishman 13530@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ well, I think Z has highlighted part of the problem. Of coarse I don't believe I need to make the sign of the cross in order to pray. However, it is certainly a good practice and my custom. So I wonder about things like 'should I publicly make the sign of the cross'. Often times, I do not or I cross my forehead with just my thumb. If i don't want to publicly make the sign of the cross why is it? Human courtesy and fear of persecution are not acceptable reasons for not living out ones faith. If I find those are the reasons I'm not making the sign of the cross then obviously I should start making it consistently. On the other hand If I'm not making it because I am legitimately avoiding the temptation to rise in pride , then I should avoid that temptation. noelfitz on "Living one's faith" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/851#post-13529 Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:10:33 +0000 noelfitz 13529@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ Z, You wrote: "Do you believe that it is always necessary to make the sign of the cross before and after you pray to show your Catholicism? Maybe this is one of your problems." Of course not. Pray in any way you like and are comfortable with. But pray. Prayer is good. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (New Revised Standard Version, 1 Th 5:16-19). God bless, Noelfitz. ______________________________________________________________ IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS, IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS, IN OMNIBUS CARITAS. ______________________________________________________________ Zachaeus on "Living one's faith" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/851#post-13528 Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:08:57 +0000 Zachaeus 13528@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ Before I worked in a catholic school I worked with a protestant teacher for 17 years in a public school. He never made a big deal about giving thanks before a meal. He simply bowed his head, paused and gave thanks. It was obvious what he was doing but it was done in such a way as to be non-obtrusive. Catholics, on the other hand, don’t have this option as we have been taught to always sign ourselves first, then pray a memorized grace, then sign ourselves again. This could be considered by some to be obtrusive and showy. Do you believe that it is always necessary to make the sign of the cross before and after you pray to show your Catholicism? Maybe this is one of your problems. fishman on "Living one's faith" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/851#post-13526 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:09:15 +0000 fishman 13526@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ thank you all for your insight it has provided me more food for thought. still I must resolve the conflict of my own motivations as I desire my motivations in all things, especially my relationship with HIM to be pure. yamabago on "Living one's faith" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/851#post-13513 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:33:21 +0000 yamabago 13513@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ A great reply from Ipioch which could hardly be improved upon. I too was thinking that your grace at meals can be modified to be internal and private, such as with mental prayer. I too do this; a brief silent internal thanks for which I am about to receive. My duty in thanking the Lord is done and I know he hears me. lpioch on "Living one's faith" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/851#post-13492 Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:07:21 +0000 lpioch 13492@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ The answer is CHILDREN. :-) I struggled with this before having children. Now? When we sit down at a restaurant and I inadvertantly forget to say grace, inevitably one of them will halt us with the first fork-full saying loudly, "But we haven't said grace yet!" And so we do. The child is not over-thinking these things like we adults do. He just knows he's supposed to tell God Thank You. The lesson learned? Well, first, be like children. Second, the point is to thank God...not to worry about what others think. So you simply need to figure out the best way to do that. We can thank God internally (no need for others to see). We can thank God externally (so that others see). There is no right or wrong. Just ask yourself what your motives are and whether or not you are more concerned about what is right (giving thanks) or about what others think. There is nothing wrong with saying Thanks in your head. Do you always vocalize your prayers to Our Lord? If you are with co-workers, do you talk about God with them? Do you pray other prayers out-loud around them? If not, then you are probably only making a show of it to do so before a meal. If so, then you are doing nothing unusual to do so before a meal. I think you simply need to maintain integrity. And to be able to face Our Lord honestly about what you choose to do. There isn't a right/wrong here. But there is good intentions and bad intentions (as you already pointed out). fishman on "Living one's faith" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/851#post-13487 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:31:43 +0000 fishman 13487@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ my intention in asking the question however was to better inform my conscience. There are two virtues that combine with my own weakness to form a kind of conflict 'humility' and 'purity'. I am tempted towards 'pride' if I make too much of a public show of my prayer. I know I need to avoid that temptation. On the other hand I also want to make sure I'm not falling into pride the other way , that of self serving false humility which is conditioned by the customs of the people around me, and my desire to avoid reproach for being 'too religious', which in the end becomes a tacit denial of Christ himself. I find it a difficult balance because of my own weakness and I suppose the final answer will come only in prayer. Still I often find others insight to be useful as well. noelfitz on "Living one's faith" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/851#post-13486 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:13:37 +0000 noelfitz 13486@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ Fishman, it is good to hear from you. I admire the fact that you say table grace. It is a wonderful habit and your post has encouraged me to say grace more frequently. I would not worry too much about saying grace in public. One must discern and I am sure God will be pleased with whatever decision you take in good conscience. God bless, Noelfitz. ______________________________________________________________ IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS, IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS, IN OMNIBUS CARITAS. ______________________________________________________________ fishman on "Living one's faith" http://forums.catholicexchange.com/topic/851#post-13485 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:57:57 +0000 fishman 13485@http://forums.catholicexchange.com/ I was reflecting on a habit I have and thought that I might query the round table on the subject. At home, I am generally pretty good about saying table grace. However, I find that in public places, I am a little more forgetful. When I am in public places without family and friends around and especially if there are business associates present at the same table, I am less likely to say grace AND when I do I often try not to make it obvious. Unfortunately i seem to have mixed motives for doing so, one legitimate and one much less so. The legitimate reason seems to be a desire to not grand stand, to keep my prayer life private. On the other hand I notice there is a motivation within myself to avoid ridicule or making other people uncomfortable by my actions, along with a tendency to follows certain social and cultural norms about not brining religion into the workplace or public form. So I find there is a certain tension between my two goals or principles. Mathew 6:5 - 6 “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. “ and Mathew 10:32 - 33 “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father. “ So my question is. What type and how do all of you strike a balance?